OFWW wrote:
On Fri, 12 Feb 2016 14:46:36 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:

On 2/12/2016 2:17 PM, OFWW wrote:
On Fri, 12 Feb 2016 10:32:28 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Friday, February 12, 2016 at 11:58:16 AM UTC-6, Leon wrote:

Yeah, failure is more of a "wobble alignment engagement" issue more so
than the soft close part of the slide failing to operate at all.

I no longer retro fit soft close slides on heavy duty drawers. A
fully loaded kitchen drawer will flex and move on the slides, almost
regardless of construction build. Not to say that the drawer box is
coming apart, but it does flex along the slides due to uneven weight
distribution when opened and closed, and small imperfections in
alignment just amplify the problem.

Somewhere in the a kitchen cab rehab there will be a couple of big
drawers, usually at the bottom of a bank or under a built in oven that
are almost (if not) overloaded. Crock pots, cast iron pans, Pyrex
casserole pans, misc. appliances (blenders, etc.) wind up in these. I
quit using soft close on these drawers as the mechanism had trouble
closing the loaded drawer to begin with, but after awhile they failed.
The soft close mechanism isn't made to be a load hauler.

For the heavy duty weight carrying drawers, I use the KV 8505. It is
rated for 150# of weight, which obviously won't ever happen. But the
mechanism itself is so heavy duty and well designed that it carries
the 50# or so these drawers wind up with easily with no alignment
problems later. I reinforce the drawer, add the slides and I am done.

Robert

WOW, Seems like there is a jewel somewhere in most every post from you
guys.

I too have cast iron pans and pots and I wouldn't cook without them. I
was wondering about their loads on shallow flat drawers along with my
favorite "cement mixer" and other things you mentioned.

I rebuilt our kitchen in our other home in 1989. With a stack of 3,
about 32" wide by 24" deep drawers built specifically for pots and pans
my wife questioned me about the 1/4" plywood bottom I was using.


Was it Baltic birch? Not the three ply stuff?

No, just common 1/4 cabinet quality birch plywood, probably 3 ply. I
place my drawer bottoms in groves on all 4 sides. That gives the bottom
significantly more support than the typical method of sliding the bottom in
under the drawer back and fixing with a few screws or brads. Plus those
particular drawer sides, front, and back were made from 3/4" thick
lumbercore and the groves for the bottoms were 3/8" deep.

And much more difficult to repair if the bottom fails and needs to be
replaced. But I have almost always built drawers this way and none have
failed, that I know of. Now I did build about 30-40 drawers for some
bathroom cabinets for Swingman in 2011. His specs called for the bottoms
to be slid in under the back of the drawer and fixed in place. Those
drawers did however have 1/2 thick maple veneer plywood bottoms.




I put the drawer on the floor upside down and stood up on the drawer
bottom. Good for about 185 lbs.

I have used a similar load tester in the recent past. IIRC the group
here named it the LFAT.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lcb112...posted-public/


I'm surprised with a shot like that, that she or whoever, didn't use
something other than a camera while they had the opportunity.



:-0 O. M. G.